Rome, Sept. 26, (dpa/GNA) - Italy’s gas storage level has reached 90%, a target that comes weeks ahead of schedule and which was set in response to Russia’s throttling of supplies to Europe.
Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said on Wednesday that the goal, which Rome had aimed to hit by the by the end of autumn, had been reached earlier than expected.
“The value allows us to now go for an even more ambitious target,” Cingolani said in a statement, “namely a storage level of 92% to 93%.”
Italy received about 40% of its natural gas from Russia before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February. In the months that followed, Rome looked for alternatives and concluded deals with suppliers in Africa and the Middle East.
Currently, the Mediterranean country still receives 25% of its gas from Moscow. Italy, where half of its electricity is produced by burning gas, wants to be completely independent of supplies from Russia by 2024.
Italy isn’t the only European country that has been stockpiling supplies.
As of Monday, gas storage facilities in the European Union were just under 88% full, according to storage operators.
In Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, facilities have been at least 90% full since mid-September, despite the cessation of Russian deliveries at the end of August.
GNA